Tezuka's Thirty Moments
by Free-Yourself-x
Summary: If you asked Kunimitsu Tezuka who his favourite person was, he would say Syusuke Fuji. If you asked him to list the most significant moments with said person, Tezuka could give you thirty off the top of his head. He loves him, after all. PERFECT PAIR.
1. The One Shot

A/N: Hi, there. So here's a little something I whipped up in a few days. Nothing great; just muse, really.

Anyway, it's based on Tezuka's perspective, and there are thirty different stories told in short bursts. Enjoy!

**Tezuka's Thirty Moments**  
**Revised: February 26, 2011**

* * *

If you asked Kunimitsu Tezuka who his favourite person was, he would say Syusuke Fuji.

If you asked him to list the most significant moments with said person, there are thirty that Tezuka could give you off the top of his head.

* * *

**(1: RECRUITER)** When Tezuka was punished during his first year and forced to clean up, Fuji, despite any argument the to-be captain gave, recruited all the other first years to help.

* * *

**(2: SAPPHIRE)** When they were twelve, Tezuka asked Fuji if he could see his eyes, and to this day, Tezuka still recalls being astonished by those picturesque orbs of sapphire.

* * *

**(3: SPECIAL)** The first time they played a match, it didn't take Fuji long to realize that his shoulder was injured. He angrily gripped Tezuka's shirt and told him how unhappy he was that he had kept this from him. Tezuka has never, to this day, seen Fuji so angered. More importantly, he had never met someone who had been able to read his feelings so quickly. Syusuke Fuji, without a doubt, was someone very special.

* * *

**(4: REGULARS)** A little into the beginning of their second year, Coach listed off the new regulars. When she got to the end of the list, she said: "And our final regulars are two second years who should have been on the team in their first year. Congratulations, Syusuke Fuji and Kunimitsu Tezuka."

Fuji responded by quietly gripping Tezuka's hand and squeezing it tightly.

* * *

**(5: SNOW WHITE)** In English class, a few months later, the class was grouped into pairs and asked to perform a given play. Fuji and Tezuka were given Snow White. Tezuka still remembers the awkward moment that Fuji smiled up at him and asked if he could be Snow White. Of course, Tezuka said yes.

* * *

**(6: BROTHERS)** One day, the perfect pair walked to Fuji's house together to chat and relax. Their fine evening was ruined when Fuji discovered his brother packing clothes and moving out of their room.

"I'm leaving Seigaku," he said, "and I don't want you to try and convince me otherwise. I don't even want you to talk to me about anything like that. All I want you to say is: "Okay, Yuuta," and deal with it."

Fuji, with eyes wide open and clearly hurt, responded with: "Whatever makes you happy, Yuuta."

The second that Yuuta left the room, Fuji whispered, "I think I need to lie down..." and Tezuka spent that night rubbing his back and telling him that it would be all right.

* * *

**(7: VICE-CAPTAIN)** After their second year, Fuji and Tezuka were offered, respectively, the positions of vice-captain and captain. Tezuka accepted. Fuji declined and gave the position to Oishi; he later admitted that he had worried it would create competition between them, and he hadn't wanted—and didn't want—that.

* * *

**(8: WASABI)** The first time Inui had them test his juice, Tezuka vomited and passed out. Fuji smiled and suggested Inui add a few pieces of wasabi.

* * *

**(9: THE BEST FEELING)** The second time they played a match, it was so close, but Fuji lost. With tears falling, he told Tezuka: "I feel horrible... but... it's the best feeling."

* * *

**(10: PRINCE)** Near the end of their third year, Fuji twisted his ankle badly. Tezuka carried him home (he realized that the other was very light), and when he set him down on the bed to wrap his ankle, Fuji commented that his "sweet prince" had finally come.

* * *

**(11: GRUDGE)** Two weeks later, Tezuka received a call from Fuji asking him to come over. When the tawny-haired boy answered the door, he was wearing a crown and holding a sign that said "Tezuka's little princess!" on it. Before he could even begin to spit out the questions, Fuji said, "here," and handed Tezuka a sign that said "Syusuke's bitch." Slightly worried that he was about to be forced into some erotic role play, Tezuka hesitantly and gently asked the tensai where he got the signs.

"My brother," was the gleeful response. "St. Rudolph put on a show picking on all the tennis teams. Yuuta dressed up as me, and what's-his-name—"(Tezuka knew very well that Fuji knew Mizuki's name)—"dressed up as you. They held up these signs."

Tezuka has held a grudge against Yuuta and Mizuki ever since.

* * *

**(12: REVENGE)** To get their revenge on St. Rudolph, Tezuka did something that nobody could have ever imagined him doing. Seigaku put on a show several weeks later, in return, picking on St. Rudolph. When it was their turn, a song started playing called "All About Him." Fuji skipped out on stage—a scar drawn on his forehead and dog collar around his neck—wearing a white t-shirt and his brother's St. Rudolph sweatpants. When the first chorus ended, he turned around, showing the audience the back of his shirt:

I'm Yuuta Fuji And I LOVE Mizuki

Laughter erupted from the audience. A moment later, Tezuka walked out on stage without his glasses and a black wig. He held up a sign that said "guess who?" and took a leash and hooked it on Fuji's collar, yanking him off the stage. It took days for people to stop laughing about it.

St. Rudolph tried to look less impressed than they really were.

Yuuta shunned his brother for a week straight.

* * *

**(13: SHARING IS CARING)** In their early years in high school, Tezuka took sick with the flu. Fuji skipped school and stayed home with him. When Tezuka woke up the next morning, Fuji had caught the flu. Of course, he stayed home to take care of him.

* * *

**(14: LEAP-YEAR PART I)** When Fuji's sixteenth birthday rolled around, February 29th actually happened that year. Tezuka and the others bought him a cake that said: Happy 4th birthday! Fuji loved it, and Tezuka loved the smile on his face.

* * *

**(15: JEALOUSY)** A couple years later, life began to get busy for the both of them. He hadn't seen much of Fuji, and when he went out searching for him one day, he found him—his delicate frame wrapped in Kawamura's arms—extremely upset. This marked the first time Tezuka remembered being extremely jealous. Fuji had always come to him with a problem.

* * *

**(16: CRAZY)** When Tezuka saw Fuji at his locker later, he tried to confront him softly about the situation. It wasn't long before he cracked and ended up yelling at the smaller boy. Fuji's eyes shot open, glazed with fear and confusion. Tezuka, after all, never yelled.

"-and you just expect me to be okay with that? Well, you're wrong. The last thing I want to see is you and Kawamura all over each other! You've got one sick, twisted mind, Fuji. You could have just come to me, but you didn't."

It wasn't until tears were forming on Fuji's lids that he actually stopped yelling to breathe. He took a step back, his shoulders and chest rising and falling, and patiently waited for the tawny-haired male to lie his way out of the situation. He had to, Tezuka had been thinking, because he saw them together! At the time, Tezuka hadn't realized how unrealistic he was being... simply because Kunimitsu Tezuka was never unrealistic. Fuji just drove him crazy.

"You weren't around..." Fuji confessed, watching Tezuka before turning back to his locker to put away his books. "I looked for you, but you weren't around. You never are. Taka was there because he's one of my best friends... like you."

Tezuka felt his heart sink to the pit of his stomach. "What was wrong?"

Fuji sighed, taking his tennis racket and uniform out of his locker. His eyes fell to the ground, and he shook his head, keeping silent. At that moment, it hit Tezuka that he was the problem, and it hit him hard. His heart was beating so fast that it was like a two-ton brick was mercilessly crushing it against his ribs. Fuji let his head fall against the lockers.

"I just missed you is all..." he admitted, and through the tears, he was still smiling that strange smile of his. "I depend on you so much, and I didn't fully realize until we stopped seeing each other all the time. Us—our unique relationship—it's this wonderful, mysterious, and horrifying thing. I've never felt so bad about something before. I'm... I'm scared, Tezuka."

Tezuka wasn't sure what to say to that. The words had caught him so off-guard that his brain wasn't properly functioning. Gently, he reached over and held the trembling tensei's hand, only able to respond with:

"You couldn't find me because I was looking for you."

* * *

**(17: STRESS)** When Tezuka got accepted into a prestigious, tennis-associated university, there was a certain awkwardness between himself and Fuji, who had applied later than Tezuka and worried that he wouldn't get in. While there was no reason for Fuji to not get accepted (as he was a tennis prodigy with outstanding grades, after all), the time spent waiting for a response was painful and excruciating—enough for Fuji to doubt himself. Tezuka had never seen him so stressed out before.

* * *

**(18: TOGETHER)** The day that Fuji got his acceptance letter, Tezuka heard a cry of joy come from down the hall. When he turned, he saw Fuji running towards him, saying, "I got in, I got in!"

Tezuka collected Fuji in his arms as the smaller boy lunged at him. Fuji smiled down at him, and he could still remember admiring him in that instance—the beauty of his overjoyed expression, the happiness radiating off of him, his grace, and how light he felt in his arms. Fuji wrapped his arms around his neck, resting his chin on his companion's shoulder and chuckling lightly. Tezuka just stood there, his arms wrapped tightly around Fuji's slender waist, and tried to contain his excitement.

"That's great... that's wonderful."

"We're going to be together, Mitsu."

* * *

**(19: ACCIDENT)** After that wonderful news had graced his ears, Tezuka didn't hear from Fuji for a long time; he hadn't showed up at school in days, and nobody had any idea where he was. Tezuka tried calling him—calling his family—but he never got a response. Just when worry was about to set in, Eiji called him. The acrobat was screaming and sobbing and talking all at once. When he finally calmed down enough to be somewhat coherent, Tezuka heard some of the most life-changing words he would ever hear:

"Fujiko," "accident," "intensive care," and "fatal injuries."

* * *

**(20: EXPLANATION)** Tezuka remembered how violently his heart was beating as he broke through the entrance of the hospital. Kikumaru's words were echoing in his mind: Fatal, serious, broken, broken, broken... He stopped running as soon as he came in sight of the waiting room. Yuuta was curled up in a tight ball, leaned against Yumiko, whose eyes—so akin to her middle brother's—were watching the floor. It was then that Tezuka realized how bruised and cut-up the youngest Fuji was.

"What happened...?" he dared to ask, his voice just barely above a whisper.

The Fuji siblings' father came up from behind Tezuka and placed a hand on his shoulder. When he turned to look at him, the man looked far older and paler than he could remember him ever being.

"Come with me, Kunimitsu. I'll explain."

* * *

**(21: AFTERSHOCK)** He remembered staring at his coffee as Fuji's dad tried to carefully retell the story. Yuuta had been driving a few nights prior, and Syusuke had been in the passengers seat. While they were stopped at a red light, a car came swerving in their direction and crashed into Syusuke's side, his body acting as a fence between the car and Yuuta.

Fuji's father took Tezuka's hands and held them tightly, looking sternly into the former captain's glazed, hazel eyes. Tezuka had to bite back a sob at that moment, because he realized, though the shape and colour of Fuji's were different, both he and his father had the same, magnetic gleam in their eyes—it pulled him in. "I don't mean to worry you," he told Tezuka, "but I want you to know the truth. Syusuke has a broken leg, wrist, arm, nose and three fractured ribs. They think he may have broken his hip as well. He also has a concussion... and he hasn't woken up yet."

Tezuka felt himself begin to tremble hard, biting back the agony. "Can... can I see him?"

* * *

**(22: BROKEN)** He had never seen Syusuke Fuji so broken before, and until that day, he could never even imagine such a sight. Fuji... in that state... hardly even looked like Fuji anymore. It wasn't the casts on his leg and arm, or the countless bandages wound around his body... it was everything else. Though he had always been small, Fuji, in that moment, looked so... breakable; underneath that tough exterior of his, he was unexpectedly fragile. He wasn't smiling, and his thin lips were parted slightly. His eyes were shut, as per normal, but they were covered with scrapes and cuts and blacks and blues. It just didn't seem right.

Tezuka bit his lip. He's not dead... he tried to convince himself. He's alive... Fuji's not dead!

But the sound of the heart monitor, the un-Fuji-like look on his companion's face, the injuries... they were more than enough to tell Tezuka that if he wasn't dead now, he would be. Even if he made it through this horrible, agonizing time, he wouldn't be around forever. To put it simply, Tezuka had taken him for granted. He had always seen Fuji as this invincible, immortal angel sent down from the heavens, and he had always expected him to be there. But seeing his old friend in this painful condition showed Tezuka that he was just as breakable—if not more than—as everybody else.

The tears came leaking from his eyes. He gritted his teeth and pounded his fists into Fuji's bed, on the floor before him. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..." he managed through the sobs. "I should have been there to protect you... I shouldn't be here right now... so close to saying goodbye to you. Wake up, Fuji... wake up! I want to see those big blue eyes of yours."

If there was anything that Tezuka regretted the most at that moment, it would be all the times that he never allowed himself to be captivated by Fuji's beauty; he had always been, of course, but he had always been reluctant to admit it. Even the other regulars had beat him to the punch, and Tezuka hated himself for that. He missed his gentle, mysterious smile, and his gleefully closed lids. He missed the tan colour of his skin. He looked passed the knotted, untidy locks and remembered the beautiful tawny colour in his thin, silky hair. But most of all, he missed those exotic pools of sapphire-blue; the picture that his eyes painted were beyond anything that Tezuka had seen in a museum. It was so hard to imagine never seeing them again.

Gently, Tezuka cupped Fuji's cheek and leaned his forehead against his, tears dripping down onto the pale, scarred face of his comatose best friend. "Please don't do this to me," he whispered, and then, ever-so-carefully, he leaned down to press his lips against the bridge of his nose—right between both of Fuji's bruised eyes.

All at once, a small moan came from underneath him. Tezuka jumped back, eyes wide, and stared at the fragile boy laid out before him. In what seemed like an eternity, Fuji's eyelids fluttered open, and two very bloodshot, blue orbs seemed to take in the room around him. Tezuka's heart had stopped beating; he couldn't believe what he was seeing. For a moment, the injured male seemed to try and adjust to his surroundings, but then, without warning, his body jerked as though he were trying to sit up.

A sharp gasp came from Fuji, and he fell back against the bed harshly. "Oh! Ow!" he cried out in a cracked voice, a sob stuck in his throat and tears falling. Tezuka hesitated only a second before jumping to his companion's side and gingerly holding his uninjured arm.

"Fuji... Fuji! I thought... I thought you were..."

"Tezuka!" Fuji cried out in his broken voice, eyes shut again. "Please! It hurts!"

He remembered the horrible, piercing pain that struck his heart at that time. To see and hear so much agony in Fuji's voice was unbearable, and if he hadn't realized that Fuji's own pain was much worse for him, he would have fled from the room. Instead, he screamed for Fuji's family, screamed for the doctors, screamed for anyone.

Syusuke Fuji was alive.

* * *

**(23: PRINCESS)** When Fuji was eventually released from the hospital, Tezuka came to visit him. He had tried to give the tawny-haired boy time to recover from the agonizing pain, and, of course, their other friends had wanted to come by. Truth be told, Tezuka was having a hard time registering the fact that Fuji had been in so much agony, and when he looked at his face, he worried that would be all that he could see. But since the accident, Tezuka knew better than to take Fuji for granted.

He stood in the frame of Fuji's bedroom door, arms crossed over his chest. Sitting on the bedside was Saeki Kojirou, who seemed to be in the middle of a laugh. Fuji, himself, was sitting up in bed, his back propped up against the wall. There were bandages everywhere, but the ones wrapped around his head worried Tezuka the most. Yuuta was knelt on the other side of the bed, his arms folded in front of him, and smiling up at his brother.

"I'm gonna run to the store..." said Kojirou, coming to his feet. "Do you want anything?"

"Saa... I'm alright. Thank you."

"Coming, Yuuta?"

"Coming!"

Tezuka moved to the side to let them through. Yuuta watched him carefully as he passed, but Kojirou stopped right at his side. "His brain is, uh... working a little slow. Don't be too worried."

He nodded, watching the two boys leave before turning front. Fuji looked better than he had, though he was still very beat up. His eyes were still heavily bloodshot, and the rims around them were still black and blue. Even so, Tezuka felt incredibly thankful to be seeing those blue orbs at all... injured, but still beautiful and alive. His left arm was in a sling and a cast (a blue cast that matched his eyes), and his leg was encased in a walking cast. Over his nose (still slightly crooked), there was a couple pieces of thick tape.

Fuji smiled at him—a tired smile that didn't quite live up to his usual. He looked so tired; Tezuka couldn't help but wonder if the pain was keeping him up at night. Almost cautiously, he stepped into the room. Fuji's face lit up slightly as he sat on the edge of his bed and took his uninjured hand, rubbing it gingerly and not quite meeting those blue eyes.

"You look exhausted."

Fuji closed his eyes, tilted his head slightly and chuckled. "I am," he answered simply. "It's just the good stuff kicking in though."

When Tezuka raised his eyebrows at the answer, Fuji nodded to the bottle on his nightstand, appropriately labeled "Percocet." He stared at the bottle, a little concerned that his pain required such strong medication. It wasn't until Fuji giggled again that Tezuka looked back.

"Ohhh, yeahhh. That's the good stuff."

He failed to bite back the smile that crossed his lips. Fuji's eyes were half-open and hazy, and Tezuka noted he was a bit more delirious than he had expected. "Tezuka..." his friend whimpered, his head dropping slightly to the right... "I wish I could have cleaned up better for you. You look so handsome, and I'm just... I'm a mess."

Tezuka smirked. "Hn. You look beautiful as always. Even with the broken nose."

Carefully, he tapped the bridge of Fuji's nose. The tawny-haired boy reacted by closing his eyes and chuckling. Tezuka leaned back, his face turning serious again. "Did you ever find out about your hip?"

Slowly, Fuji nodded. "It wasn't broken. It was out-of-place. They popped it back in the other day."

His friend's eyebrows knitted together, no doubt reliving a not-so-pleasant memory. Tezuka gave his hand a quick squeeze to comfort him. "Hopefully the pain wasn't too bad?"

"They did a nice job of drugging me up first, but it wasn't necessarily the best feeling in the world."

Taking a moment to process the words, Tezuka sighed and leaned in to engulf Fuji in a careful hug. The tawny-haired male didn't tense up, as Tezuka would have expected. Instead, he relaxed into the brunette's arms. Fuji was always surprising him; he surely was one-of-a-kind.

"Why do I have this feeling that you're unnecessarily guilty?"

Tezuka didn't let go. He rested his head into Fuji's neck and shut his eyes. "I took you for granted," he answered. "I expected you to always be around, and you were almost killed. I'm sorry, Fuji... I don't know what I would have done without you here. I... you... you've just always been here." Pulling back, he looked pathetically at his companion. "I'm not good at explaining things like this, Fuji... and I'm not an emotional person, but I... I-"

"Shhh..." whispered Fuji, shutting his eyes and placing a finger against Tezuka's lips. "Saa... you don't have to explain. I understand, and I feel the same way."

Kunimitsu Tezuka had never felt young to anybody, but sitting on the bed before Fuji, he felt like a little kid. He found it odd that the mature, adult-like one in the situation was Fuji, who was broken, battered, and bruised. Needless to say, that moment only lasted a minute or so, because it wasn't long before Fuji snatched the crown off of his nightstand and placed it on his own head.

Smiling, he added, "Because I'm your little princess, remember?"

Tezuka rested his forehead against the other male's, so thankful to hear such Fuji-like words spring from his lips.

"That you are, Syusuke."

* * *

**(24: THE PROBLEM WITH COUNTERS)** Weeks later, Tezuka was having a hard time convincing a pouting Fuji to get off of the kitchen counter. He had his hands on the boy's hips, silently glaring at him but getting no other reaction in return. This had been going on for thirty-five minutes now, and it was beginning to touch a nerve.

"For the last time, get off the counter."

"Only if you play a match with me, Kunimitsu. Truth be told, this isn't exactly the counter I'm craving right now."

Fuji smiled at him, his ridiculous joke still hanging in the air. Tezuka frowned deeply. He let go of him and stepped back, arms crossed sternly over his chest.

"No."

Fuji's smile faded. "Fine."

He carefully slid off the edge of the counter (Tezuka winced), and after sending a not-so-nice face in Tezuka's direction, he limped back to the living room—the walking cast on his leg slamming hard against the floor. Tezuka sighed, shaking his head, and slowly followed the other boy. How he had even managed to get on the counter with his injuries and without his crutches was beyond him. Still, he felt bad; he knew Fuji was having a hard time being locked up.

"Maybe when you don't have six broken bones and a head injury, Syusuke."

* * *

**(25: DEATH BY QUIZ)** "You got caught up so fast," said Kawamura, scanning through Fuji's overloaded assignment book. The smaller boy gave him a tired smile before turning back to his reading. He was curled up, seated in Tezuka's lap, who was doing his own reading.

"I just hope the teacher doesn't give a quiz tomorrow. I'd be very upset."

Tezuka chuckled at Fuji's flustered expression. Taka asked, "Well, what if he does, Fujiko?"

"I'll have everyone killed."

Tezuka's eyes fell on the tawny-haired boy again immediately. "Did you take a pill?"

Yuuta passed through the living room, shaking his head. "No, that's a regular Syusuke response."

Tezuka and Kawamura realized he was right. Fuji smiled gleefully.

* * *

**(26: STAIRS)** The candles burned, the room was dark, and the television played their only source of light. Fuji was leaning against Tezuka, just barely awake. On the other side of the couch, Eiji was resting on Oishi. The clock shone at 2 AM, and their movie still wasn't over yet. Tezuka didn't mind, nevertheless, as he was pretty comfortable in his position.

It wasn't until Fuji fell asleep that Tezuka decided it was time for bed. "Fuji..." he whispered, nudging him slightly. "Come on, you're tired. It's time for bed."

"Ne... we can sleep tomorrow, Mitsu..."

"You're already sleeping. Let's go."

Pushing Fuji softly towards the golden pair, Tezuka came to his feet and fixed his shirt, waiting for the smaller boy to get up. Instead of doing so, however, Fuji sprawled out across his part of the couch and smiled up at him. Both Oishi and Eiji chuckled.

"I think that's a hint, Tezuka," Oishi commented gently.

Sighing, Tezuka reached to the left and grabbed Fuji's crutches. "I know exactly what it is. He plays this game all the time. Fuji... you're acting like a child."

The smile on his face only widened. "Well, I am only four, Tezuka."

"You're going to be five in two years, now get up."

In his mind, Tezuka slapped his forehead for playing along with Fuji's "I'm a leap-year baby" game. Groaning when the other male didn't budge, he sat down on the edge of the couch. "Look, I don't want to hurt you. You're still injured, Fuji."

Fuji feigned a hurt face. "And you would make your little injured princess walk all the way up the stairs? How awful of you."

Tezuka grunted. Standing again, he said, "You're taking this "princess" thing way too far," and easily scooped his Fujiko up in his arms. He sauntered up the stairs, saying nothing to the golden pair, who had failed to help the situation at all.

* * *

**(27: GOODBYE)** At university, Tezuka was resting on his bed, working on a project. Fuji watched him from across the room, swinging his legs over the edge of his bed. He could feel those sapphire eyes burning into him, silently pleading with him to speak or stop doing his work, but Tezuka didn't want to. Unfortunately, Fuji had been doing this for some time now, and it was getting old... fast.

"Are you sure you don't want to go to the party tonight?"

Tezuka stopped writing and sighed. "No, for the last time. I don't want to go anywhere."

He felt the air thicken as Fuji shuddered, clearly hurt by the retort. Feeling guilty, he decided to change the subject. "You get your cast off your leg soon, don't you?"

A very thin smile (if you could even call it that) crossed Fuji's lips, but it faded quickly. "Two weeks," he said. Suddenly, there was incredibly sad gleam in Fuji's eyes. "You'll come with me, right?"

"I guess."

The awkward silence returned to their room. Fuji broke his stare and looked down at his feet, and Tezuka tried to ignore the guilt that stabbed at his heart. He didn't expect Fuji to understand, because it simply wasn't his fault, but he was getting... tired of their closeness. He didn't know why, exactly. Perhaps, he thought, it was because they were in a new place around new people with new challenges, and he just wanted change. It made him irritable at times, and he knew, by Fuji's faded smile, that the tawny-haired by was beginning to catch on.

His heart throbbed angrily against his chest. He just didn't know what to do anymore. It wasn't until Fuji spoke again that he found his answer.

"Do you need space, Tezuka?"

Tezuka looked up, a little shocked by the comment. Again, his heart fluttered painfully; why was it that Fuji could always read him so well? He didn't know what to say, but he knew that Fuji had already realized that. His dear friend leaned back against the wall, still not meeting his eyes, and released a long-held breath.

"I get it, all right? I know why you've been ignoring me and snapping at me whenever I speak. It's not your fault, because I understand. We're at college, and it's new and exciting, and you want to experience all the... opportunities." There was a certain bitterness Fuji spoke with that Tezuka had never heard from him. "I was your Seigaku thing," he said, "and you need to find your college thing. I'm okay with it. If you're happy, then I'm happy."

He wasn't happy, and Tezuka knew that; Fuji was hurting badly, and he had been for days. Instantly, Tezuka was regretting everything. He would never meet somebody like Fuji—somebody who could read him so well and persuade him in any direction—and he had already lost him once; that was awful enough. Nobody would ever drive him crazy like Fuji. Did he even want to meet anyone else? Tezuka wasn't sure, and he wished Fuji had waited before saying anything.

Sitting up, Tezuka tried to meet his eyes. "It's not that I... I don't... I don't know..."

Fuji held up a hand to stop him. "Saa... I know you don't, and that's fine. Until you figure it out, however, I'm going to be staying with Koujirou. It's hard enough being in the same room with somebody who doesn't even know how they feel about you anymore."

Tezuka felt a pang of jealousy strike his heart. He wanted to take it all back. He could still remember, as clear as day, the morning that Fuji jumped into his arms, overjoyed that they would be together after high school. Why did he have to have these awful feelings that were changing everything? Why couldn't Fuji just change his mind? He wasn't even trying to; instead, he was trying to make Tezuka happy. If Fuji had been different—like everybody else—he would have been at Tezuka's feet, trying to fix things, but he wasn't like everybody else... he was Fuji.

"I know how I feel," Tezuka snapped. "I just..."

He couldn't finish, because at that moment, he realized that Fuji already had some of things packed away. There was a suitcase sitting by the door, and his tennis racket was sticking out of it. Fuji smiled at him—such a sad, fragile smile—and came to his feet. Tezuka had to resist jumping up to sweep Fuji off his feet as he had always done. If he was going to follow through with this, he couldn't be showing these feelings anymore; staying in the middle between being with Fuji and moving on wasn't fair to either of them.

Fuji slung the bag over his shoulder and opened the door. Before leaving, he stopped, sighed, and dropped his shoulders.

"Goodbye, Tezuka."

And he left.

* * *

**(28: PERCENTAGES)** At first, it had been hard without Fuji. The painful silence of their room and the few things of his left on the shelves were unbearable around Tezuka. The only shred of hope he had of Fuji's return was the fact that he had left his beloved cactus in the window, and Tezuka knew he wouldn't forget it by accident; he must have trusted him enough with it. It only made things worse, though, and Tezuka hardly even saw Fuji around anymore.

But it got better. He lightened up a bit and went out with friends, and whenever he was thinking about Fuji, he called up one of his old teammates and played a match or two. Inui was always usually up for it, but it bothered to Tezuka when his friend would, every five seconds, say something like: There's a ninety-eight percent chance that something is wrong between you and Fuji. Care to explain, Kunimitsu?

Nothing's wrong, he would say sternly, looking past the hurt. Fuji's busy.

It wasn't until one particular night that he and Inui saw Koujirou and Fuji in the cafe that Tezuka realized he would be okay. When the two of them locked eyes—as beautiful, breath-taking, and captivating as Fuji's were—Tezuka didn't feel the same pain that he had been feeling. He was unable to read the smaller boy's feelings, as he turned away from him and left within a few minutes.

"Because he didn't stop and say hello, I'd guess there was about a fifty percent chance that Fuji is still hurting."

As distressing as Inui's words were, Tezuka knew that he would be all right when his old friend added:

"But there's a one-hundred percent chance that both of you are feeling significantly better."

* * *

**(29: LEAP-YEAR PART II)** On the morning of February 29th, Tezuka wrote Fuji a letter and slipped it under his door.

Syusuke,

I know it's been some time since we've spoken, but today, I was thinking a lot about you. I never thought it would be this long, to be completely honest with you; in fact, I thought you would be coming back. That's my fault, though. I should have confronted you when I had the chance. I've been taking care of your cactus for you, and it's still alive and well; if you wanted to come take it back, I wouldn't mind. It is yours, after all.

I hope you're doing well. I should have been checking in on you, but I suppose, by now, your injuries must have all healed. I don't know if you remember, but when you were in the hospital, that was the most agonizing thing I've ever gone through. To see you lying there, so weak and helpless—standing on the brink of death—was horrifying. I cried. I told you before, and I'll tell you again: If I had lost you that day, I don't know what I would have done. I would have wanted to die alongside you. The only thing that has kept me going these days is those rare occasions where I see you in the hallway—smiling or laughing. I hope it isn't fake—you deserve better.

I'm sorry, Fuji. Nothing and nobody could ever compare to you; your unique sense of humor, your passion, your grace, and your beauty are the most beautiful gifts anybody could ever have. I'm sorry it took me so long to fully realize that. Thank you for letting me realize this; you understood me even when I didn't understand myself. I'm just so sorry I had to hurt you to figure this out. Hopefully, one day, we can fix things and make them the way they were supposed to be... but only if you want. I would never force you into something you didn't want. I just miss you. Whenever you want—if you ever want—I'm here for you. Don't ever forget it.

Happy 5th (20th) birthday, Fuji. I hope it's everything you ever wanted.

-Kunimitsu

* * *

**(30: HIS SMILE)** That evening, while the muted television was blinking in the corner of the room, and Tezuka was pondering over a mistake that his professor had made in an assignment, there was a knock on the door. He stretched and sauntered over, wondering who, on this friday night, was at his door and not at some overpopulated college party. When he turned the knob, however, he could have sworn he was seeing things... because there was no way that Syusuke Fuji could be standing at his door.

Tezuka's jaw dropped slightly. His heart fluttered in his chest. The petite, tawny-haired, blue-eyed boy standing before him was wearing that infamous expression of his—eyes closed, smile wide, and eyebrows raised. He made it seem as though he had never left—as though he'd only been out to play a game of tennis and was just returning—as though nothing had ever even changed between them. Standing there, like always before, was his sadistic, mysterious little princess, who shone like he had just been named the number one tennis player in the entire world.

"F... Fuji...?"

And before Tezuka could utter another sound, there were tears trailing down Fuji's cheeks. "I missed you, Buchou," was all he said, smiling brightly.

It all came flooding back to him: Seigaku, the accident, those wonderful, mysterious, and horrifying feelings between them. All at once, Fuji lunged forward, and Tezuka lifted him off of his feet and into his arms. For the longest time, they didn't move; they could have been standing there for hours, and Tezuka would have never noticed—time hadn't played a role in that moment.

"I'm so sorry I hurt you..." he whispered, tightening his arms around Fuji's thin waist. "You're the last person on this earth that I would ever want to hurt. I love you, Syusuke."

Fuji pulled back to look at him, his sharp, sapphire eyes bright and beautiful. Tezuka took in a deep breath, admiring the picture that his eyes were painting and never wanting to look away. No other smile could have possibly even come close to beating the one on Fuji's face at that moment; its beauty was so unlike anything anybody could imagine. Syusuke Fuji was very different, but at the sight of his smile, his eyes, and the sound of his laughter, Kunimitsu Tezuka knew he wouldn't have it any other way.

"I love you too, Mitsu."

* * *

**END.**


	2. Important! Author's Note

Hello, everyone! I am so thankful for the reviews I got on this one-shot. I wanted to take this time to thank you all personally and to let you know about something you may be interested in. I was considering revising a sequel to this piece, and I currently have three pieces that I could work with. I'd like to know which of the three you are all most interested in:

_Fuji's Thirty Moments_: This takes place during the same time period as Tezuka's Thirty Moments. Fuji lists of _his_ favourite 30 stories with Tezuka, which are prone to be funnier, perhaps a bit more sweet, and more open.

_Days of Moments: _If this were to be chosen, I'd be finishing a drafted story that explores Fuji and Taka's relationship. It takes place in the same universe, so Fuji is still with Tezuka.

_Last Moments_: I don't want to give away too much about this one. However, it has to do with some of the last moments that Tezuka and Fuji share together.

Please review and let me know!


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